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In the Kingdom of Shoes : Bata, Zlín, Globalization, 1894–1945 / Zachary Austin Doleshal.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2021]Copyright date: 2021Description: 1 online resource (288 p.) : 18 b&w illustrationsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781487524449
  • 9781487534462
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 338.4/768530943725 23
LOC classification:
  • HD9787.C944
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations and Terms -- Introduction -- 1 “A New Fixed Existence”: The Modernization of Zlín -- 2 “Time Es Money”: The Americanization of the Dřevnice Valley, 1914–1923 -- 3 “An End to Politics,” 1923–1926 -- 4 “Speak Briefly”: Rationalization and Everyday Life, 1926–1932 -- 5 “Half the World Is Barefoot”: The Globalization of the Bat’a System, 1931–1937 -- 6 “The Path of Perfection”: Engineering the Batovci for an Uncertain World, 1933–1938 -- 7 “Everyone Gives Their Soul to Their Country,” 1937–1939 -- 8 “Not a Nazi, but More or Less a Fool,” 1939–1945 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: One of the world’s largest sellers of footwear, the Bata Company of Zlín, Moravia has a remarkable history that touches on crucial aspects of what made the world modern. In the twilight of the Habsburg Empire, the company Americanized its production model while also trying to Americanize its workforce. It promised a technocratic form of governance in the chaos of postwar Czechoslovakia, and during the Roaring Twenties, it became synonymous with rationalization across Europe and thus a flashpoint for a continent-wide debate. While other companies contracted in response to the Great Depression, Bata did the opposite, becoming the first shoe company to unlock the potential of globalization. As Bata expanded worldwide, it became an example of corporate national indifference, where company personnel were trained to be able to slip into and out of national identifications with ease. Such indifference, however, was seriously challenged by the geopolitical crisis of the 1930s, and by the cusp of the Second World War, Bata management had turned nationalist, even fascist. In the Kingdom of Shoes unravels the way the Bata project swept away tradition and enmeshed the lives of thousands of people around the world in the industrial production of shoes. Using a rich array of archival materials from two continents, the book answers how Bata’s rise to the world’s largest producer of shoes challenged the nation-state, democracy, and Americanization.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781487534462

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations and Terms -- Introduction -- 1 “A New Fixed Existence”: The Modernization of Zlín -- 2 “Time Es Money”: The Americanization of the Dřevnice Valley, 1914–1923 -- 3 “An End to Politics,” 1923–1926 -- 4 “Speak Briefly”: Rationalization and Everyday Life, 1926–1932 -- 5 “Half the World Is Barefoot”: The Globalization of the Bat’a System, 1931–1937 -- 6 “The Path of Perfection”: Engineering the Batovci for an Uncertain World, 1933–1938 -- 7 “Everyone Gives Their Soul to Their Country,” 1937–1939 -- 8 “Not a Nazi, but More or Less a Fool,” 1939–1945 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

One of the world’s largest sellers of footwear, the Bata Company of Zlín, Moravia has a remarkable history that touches on crucial aspects of what made the world modern. In the twilight of the Habsburg Empire, the company Americanized its production model while also trying to Americanize its workforce. It promised a technocratic form of governance in the chaos of postwar Czechoslovakia, and during the Roaring Twenties, it became synonymous with rationalization across Europe and thus a flashpoint for a continent-wide debate. While other companies contracted in response to the Great Depression, Bata did the opposite, becoming the first shoe company to unlock the potential of globalization. As Bata expanded worldwide, it became an example of corporate national indifference, where company personnel were trained to be able to slip into and out of national identifications with ease. Such indifference, however, was seriously challenged by the geopolitical crisis of the 1930s, and by the cusp of the Second World War, Bata management had turned nationalist, even fascist. In the Kingdom of Shoes unravels the way the Bata project swept away tradition and enmeshed the lives of thousands of people around the world in the industrial production of shoes. Using a rich array of archival materials from two continents, the book answers how Bata’s rise to the world’s largest producer of shoes challenged the nation-state, democracy, and Americanization.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 19. Oct 2024)